Despite well-documented challenges in maintaining advertising and readership, print magazine launches in the U.S. and Canada continued to outpace closures in the first six months of 2015, according to New York-based MediaFinder.
According to the online periodical database, 60 new print titles launched in Canada and the U.S. in the first half of the year, compared with 93 new titles in the first half of 2014. A total of 23 titles were shuttered, compared with 30 in the corresponding year-earlier period.
Among the three Canadian launches are Bento Box Magazine, a free monthly title dedicated to Japanese culture that debuted in March. MediaFinder also reports two Canadian closures, most notably business title Backbone.
The U.S. closures include Condé Nast’s Lucky – which single-handedly launched the shopping magazine category when it debuted 15 years ago – and Nylon Guys, which adopted a web-only format earlier this year.
The U.S. launches include Smithsonian Journeys, Organic Life and Adventure Outdoors.
Five titles launched in the business-to-business category, compared to 15 in the same period last year. Four business-to-business titles, including Re:form, stopped publishing in the first six months of the year, the same number as 2014.
According to recent Statistics Canada data, the Canadian periodical industry generated $2 billion in revenue in 2013, outpacing operating expenses of $1.8 billion.
Ontario publishers accounted for more than half (56.6%) of the industry’s operating revenue, followed by Quebec companies at 22.8% and companies in the Prairie region at 11.7%.
Advertising sales accounted for 59.2% of sales, a significant decline from 73.8% in 2011, followed by circulation (27.1%) and custom publishing (4.4%).
Consumer titles accounted for 85.7% of total circulation, led by controlled circulation titles (33.6%) and subscription titles (27.8%). Free magazines (20.5%) and newsstand and other copies sold (18.1%) accounted for the rest of the industry.
